Gunnar Jensen
Gunnar Jensen is highy strong and dangerous, as well as formally educated as an chemical engineer. It's implied in the first film that he has had an ongoing issue with substance abuse and is generally a lose cannon in both films. He's crass and vulgar. He's got some light hand to hand training and carries a large bowie knife, a Milkor MGL multi-shot gernade launcher and at times a generic automatic weapon. Though listed as a sniper on both official film websites, he's not often seen using this informed attribute. Jensen views himself as a viking of the modern age. In the Films ''The Expendables A group of elite highly-trained mercenaries, the Expendables, has been deployed to Somalia to halt local pirates from executing the hostages. Barney Ross paid the original agreement of $3 million to secure the release of the hostages. However, the leader demands $5 million, and Jensen instigates a firefight after telling a crude pirate joke by firing his gernade launcher at the lead pirate, bisecting him and causing his torso to fly into the wall behind. As the rest of the team goes down below to deal with the rest of the pirates, Jensen says on the balcony to hang one of the few pirates left living, claiming it to be a "viking tradition." Caesar reacts to this with relative disgust, telling Ross to "shoot Speed Racer in the shoulder." and Toll Road calls the man demented. While this is going on Yin Yang has snuck up to the level that Jensen is on and kicks him, starting a brief fight. Ross intervenes, subduing Jensen for the moment. In the aftermath, Ross reluctantly releases Jensen from duty due to psychological problems and drug use. When the team gets back, Ross is in his truck going over the brief file of their mission when Jensen approaches his truck and tries to start a conversation. His sweaty apperance denotes use of the drug Methamphetamine and Ross picks up on this and says that he cannot be trusted due to his continued use of said drug and general instability. Gunnar is taken aback and implies that he will get revenge on the team for what he obviously thinks of as wrongful termination. Jensen sneaks onto the plane as Ross and Christmas go to scout out the Island of Vilena and approaches Garza and his ally, ex-CIA agent James Munroe to identify his former comrades for the price of 100,000 USD, cash. Jensen and a number of Monroe's men tail Ross and Yin Yang, instigating a shoot-out during a car chase during which Jensen kills a man who was in the SUV with him. Just as the pursuit ends in an abandoned warehouse, Yin Yang and Jensen fight each other a second time, with the both of them in a stalemate. Jensen eventually gets the upper hand and attempts to impale Yin Yang on a pipe, only for Ross to shoot him. Believing that he was going to die, Jensen asks for a viking funeral and subsequently gives the layout of Garza's palace to Ross. The team celebrates their victory at Tool's Bar, with Jensen and Yin Yang having reconciled with each other and Toll Road recommending some sort of therapy. Even though Jensen had recently been shot in the upper left corner of his torso, dangerously close to his heart, he seems to be healthier in apperance than previously, which implies that he's stopped using meth. The Expendables 2 During the sequel, Gunnar Jensen doesn't have much of a character arc at all. He's more or less been shoehorned into the background and given lines and what not to say, but is not as integeral to the plot or as developed as he was in the first film. This could be due to the inclusion of other characters or simply because of other issues with the script, but Jensen's apperances are much less cohesive and motivated than they were in the first movie. The Second film opens with a raid on a fortress in Nepal to secure and rescue a Chinese billionaire who is being held hostage. In the opener, Jensen and Yang are both in the same armored vehicle; Jensen driving and Yang providing artillery support from the top hatch. Jensen calls Yang an insect and is rather loud and crass about the whole operation. When the team rescues Mauser, Jensen reacts distastefully to being called Frankenstien and Barney warns him not to go crazy. When Yang gets dropped off with Dr. Zhou (the aforementioned Hostage) Jensen expresses slight disappointment at the fact that Yang may or may not be returning to the team. It seems as if both parties have set aside their past differences which seemed to hinge on Jensen's drug abuse anyways. The team then goes to celebrate at The Old Point bar, persumably back in New Orleans, where they are based. It is here that Jensen claims to have improved Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity before blowing his nose into the napkin he wrote it on. This is sort of interesting because it expresses a duality to Jensen which the audience hasn't seen yet- the intellect hidden by his mental fraying. Ross goes on to explain that before Jensen was apart of the team, he earned a Master's degree in Chemical Engineering and went to M.I.T. before dropping out to become a bouncer and subsequently getting dumped by the girl he dropped out to pursue. During the second mission of the film, to retrieve the case, Jensen asserts on the plane ride over that Maggie is "into him" and tries to get her attention by grunting repeatedly. It's implied that he was going to do something with the rubix cube in his hand, but nothing ever comes of it. This is yet another instance where Jensen is acting as comic relief for the film. When the team goes to get the contents of the safe, Jensen is impressed by Timmons' ability to run up the slope. He also seems reluctant to drop his gun when confronted by Vilain and afterwards appears to wipe his eye during Timmons' impromptu funeral. While the rest of the team is preparing the truck, Jensen hurls a chicken out of the back. The team drives into the testing facility town and Jensen says that it reminds him of home, much to the dismay of both Toll Road and Hale Caesar. Unasked, Jensen announces that his favorite Swedish dinner is baby seal and whale ass, in the Summer, and that he would love some Chinese food. The latter is an obvious dig at his attraction towards Maggie, but is generally illreceived by the crew. In this same location its shown that he snores profusely and knows a bit about the legend that is Booker. When the team is stuck in the mine, Jensen attempts to try and blow up the cavern using the natural phosphorus in the walls and gunpowder in a pipe. This of course, for comedic effect, is unsuccessful and the rest of the team jeers at him. During the fight at the airport Jensen seems to be only carrying his knife as a back up to his grenade laucher, something that's a little risky when dealing with close combat and enemies who all have automatic weapontry. ''Personality Jensen seems to be completely ax crazy in the first film, presenting himself as psychologically unstable and a clear danger to anyone in his path, even turning on his teammates. He appears to enjoy his job and the act of killing all together, almost to a sociopathic degree, though he shows more humanity when surrounded by his peers and away from battle. Jensen also seems quick to lie and bend the truth, as seen when he asserts that he wouldn't have killed Yang during their fight in the warehouse, then admits that as a falseification upon Ross' prodding. In all actuality, Jensen is so much of a liability to the team as a whole that it's easy to assume that the only reason Barney keeps him on the team is because he'd rather have the loose cannon pointed at someone other than themselves. In the second film some of Jensen's history is revealed, most prominantly his degree in chemical engineering and fullbright Scholarship to MIT, an attribute that he shares with the actor who plays him, Dolph Lundgren. ''Drug Use'' During the first film Jensen is using an illegal substance methamphetamine and this is referanced both in the dialog and in the character's general apperance. His profuse sweating is a side effect of the drug, as is erratic or unusual behavior, though this could also be attributed to Jensen's possible hard years in battle. In dialog the two things that lead one to believe that Jensen uses meth over any other possible substance are cut from the theatrical release, as are some other bits of telling characterization. The first is when Hale Caesar tells Ross to "Shoot Speed Racer in the shoulder." This is both a referance to the animated show and the fact that a popular street name for methamphetamine is speed. The second is when Ross and Tool are discussing Jensen's dismissal from the team and the latter says "Well, he went full Crankenstien on you." The word is a mixture of Crank and Frankenstien, the former is another street name for Methamphetamine and the latter is perhaps a jab at Jensen's hieght or grunting demeanor, juxtapositioning it with that of Frankenstien's Monster. ''Physical Apperance'' Dolph Lundgren, the actor who plays Gunnar, is 6 foot 5 inches tall and weighs around 240 pounds. In short? He's a large man. Gunnar himself differs from the actor in that he has a large Expendables tattoo on his left bicep and another less defined tattoo on his right. However it should be noted that this is not consistant and changed in the second movie. He has a semi-circular scar on the left side of his face and long upkept blonde hair. Missions Appearances *(2 films, 4 comics) **''The Expendables Issue #1'' (First appearance) **''The Expendables Issue #2'' **''The Expendables Issue #3'' **''The Expendables Issue #4'' **''The Expendables'' - Dolph Lundgren **''The Expendables 2'' - Dolph Lundgren Category:The Expendables 3 (2014) Characters